Zhao Wei is Mulan in Mulan

[adrotate banner=”1″]Zhao Wei (aka Vicky Zhao) is starring as Hua Mulan in the upcoming Mulan film that won’t be a Disney-fied version of the tale. Although it might be a Red Cliffed version of the tale, so who knows…

In the story, Hua Mulan dresses as a man and goes to war, it is hard to believe that Zhao Wei would be a passable boy or man, but since the beginning of Chinese cinema this has been a common plot device and actresses such as Polly Shan, Ziyi Zhang, and Cheng Pei-Pei have all run around for movies where everyone thinks they are a dude. It is also prevalent in Western media, even Shakespeare used it and he stole from everyone!

But then again, do I really need an excuse to post pictures of Zhao Wei? I think not!

Zhao Wei Is ‘Mulan’
Hong Kong director Jingle Ma thinks mainland actress Zhao Wei is perfect for the role of folk heroine Hua Mulan.

“Zhao Wei has the qualities necessary to cross-play,” Ma told the Beijing Times on Tuesday at a press conference for the film “Mulan”, where he announced the start of filming.

Previous media reports suggested that Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh and Liu Yifei had all been considered for Hua Mulan, a young girl from ancient China’s Northern Dynasties, who joined an all-male army to fight the enemies in place of her ailing father.
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In the upcoming film, actor Chen Kun will play Mulan’s lover. Child actress Xu Jiao will play the young Mulan, and Russian pop singer Vitas is set to make a cameo.

You might remember Xu Jiao as actress who played the boy in CJ7.